She was talking to me.
And I couldn’t believe what she was
saying
to me.
I ignored her and held the afghan up with my teeth as I wrapped my bra around my ribs.
“Meg, not gonna say it again. Get the fuck out,” Raiden growled.
“Talking from experience, sweetie,” she kept ignoring Raid and addressing me, “brought
him a friend. He likes it like that. I know ‘cause he came back for more.”
Pain seared through me
,
but I couldn’t focus on it since I heard a terrified squeak. My head shot back and
I watched Raiden
,
in nothing but cargo pants
,
zipped but not buttoned
,
dragging her by her upper arm across the room.
He opened the door and bodily tossed her out onto the landing.
“Swear to fuckin’
Christ,
I see your fuckin’ face again, I’ll devote my life to makin’ yours a misery. You
feel like testing me, you’ll learn real fuckin’ quick I do not fuck around. And after
that shit in there, Meg, I’ll go slow and enjoy every fuckin’ minute of flushin’ your
life right down the toilet.” He threatened then finished, “Nod if you get me.”
“All bark, no bite, ‘cept sweet, vanilla Hanna in there. Now
she
gets your teeth when I thought they were all for me,” she jeered.
It might make me weird
,
and before this I didn’t care
,
but I could make Raid lose it often, lose control enough to sink his teeth into me
and, as I mentioned, I loved that.
Actually, to be honest, I
lived
for it.
And it wasn’t just mine.
I closed my eyes against the pain
, then
opened them, dropped the afghan and bent to snatch up my blouse.
“You just tested me,” he whispered sinisterly.
“Do your worst,” she hissed. “No one steps out on me.”
“Clue in, bitch,” Raiden shot back.
“I haven’t spoken to you for months
. A
man fucks you
and
your friend, no dinners, no movies, there’s nothin’ but pussy to step out on and
pussy that’s just pussy is also just nothing.”
“You dick!” she yelled.
“Yeah, I’m a dick
,
but you’re a goddamned cunt. Prepare, Meg,” he finished on a warning and slammed
the door right in her face.
He twisted the lock, turned to me and lifted a hand to drag his fingers through his
hair, his blazing eyes landing on me.
“Fuck me, so goddamned hooked on my woman, come home to her in my bed, didn’t lock
the motherfucking door,” he ground out.
“I need to leave,” I whispered
,
and Raid focused on me.
“Come again?”
“I need to go,” I told him.
“Hanna, that was jacked. Do not take her shit in,” he ordered.
“I need to go,” I repeated.
“Babe, again, that was jacked. I was never seein’ her. It was casual. You cannot step
out on what’s not real. I haven’t even spoken to her in fuckin’
months.
Way longer than you’ve been with me. She heard talk about us, woke up feelin’ like
bein’ a bitch and came here to spread that joy.”
“You called her a cunt,” I reminded him.
He threw out a hand, his brows shooting up. “Were you not just here? She
is
a cunt.”
This was not debatable. I didn’t even know why I brought it up.
I moved on. “Did you… did you…
bite her
like you do me?”
“Honey, why do you think that shit tripped it for me? That bitch has never had my
teeth. Fuck,
no
bitch has ever had my teeth.”
Thank God.
At least that was good.
Again, moving on. “Did you sleep with her and her friend?”
His torso swung back, his mouth snapped shut and I knew.
God
.
I moved toward him because he was at the door, my head was down, my mouth repeating,
“I need to leave.”
I didn’t make it. He didn’t step out of my way this time. He wrapped his hands around
both my arms and moved me back five feet into the room.
I tore free and stepped three wide strides to the side, lifting a hand his way.
“Don’t touch me!” I hissed
,
and this time his head jerked.
“Hanna
—
”
“You had threesomes!” I cried.
“I told you, baby, we do not wanna go over past shit.”
I threw out both hands. “Now I understand why,” I shared
. Then I
asked, “Are you going to want to do that with me?”
“Fuck no,” he clipped.
“And I’m supposed to believe that?” I pushed.
He leaned toward me and bit out, “Fuck
yes.
”
“How?” I snapped. “She’s right, you like it wild. When is vanilla going to wear off,
Raid?”
Suddenly he smiled huge, white and amused
,
and if I wasn’t mistaken, he looked like he was fighting laughter.
“This isn’t funny!” I yelled because it dang well wasn’t!
“Honey, you’re wrong. You thinkin’ you’re even close to vanilla is goddamned hilarious.”
“Unh-hunh,” I mumbled disbelievingly.
His body started visibly shaking.
Yes.
With laughter.
“
This isn’t funny!
” I shrieked.
Raid
crossed his arms on his chest,
tried to fight
back his smile without hiding he was fighting
it
back and began.
“Hanna, baby, I told you we do not wanna go over past shit and I was right. We really
don’t. But you’ve worked yourself up so you give me no choice.”
I didn’t like this start
,
but had no chance to share that because Raid kept going.
“Meg spends her days at a shit job she hates and spends most of the rest of her time
working out and starving herself
,
so she’s usually in a bitchy mood because she pretty much hates her life
,
but definitely needs a sandwich. Contradicting that shit, she doesn’t have a problem
pouring alcohol down her throat and smoking a shitload of grass
,
which gives her the munchies she refuses to give into
,
thus the vicious cycle with her bein’ a bitch and makin’ the mellowing qualities
of pot lost on her.”
“Raid
—
” I snapped to get him to shut up because I did not want to know any of this
,
but he talked over me.
“What I’m saying is she’s a party girl, up for anything
,
and she was up for anything with me. When she was able to tamp down the bitch, we
had a good time. Maybe she’ll get a guy who’s into fake tits, lots of hair and women
who care more about having a toned body than they do about having a decent state of
mind
s
o he’ll put up with the bitch to have her brand of fun
,
but that guy isn’t me.”
“Raid!” I yelled this time
,
but he kept right on going.
“You wanna hear this or not
, h
onest to Christ, if you didn
’t ignite for me our first time, and you were vanilla—
you are fabulous, baby
—
but you would not be here right now. With you I got the whole package. If I had it
with her, she’d be here, not you.”
“This isn’t making me feel better,” I informed him.
His amusement died and he shot back, “Then how’s this
?
You ignite for me
,
but more, you make me ignite for you
.
A
nd no woman, not in my whole goddamned life, has made me ignite the way you do.
”
Wow.
I knew he did that for me
,
but I had no idea I did it for him.
I shut my mouth.
“You get my teeth, Hanna, ‘cause makin’ my own personal Peggy Sue go wild for me drives
me fuckin’
crazy
.
You do it for me like no woman before you. I lose control because you make me and
you get my teeth
,
and what makes that shit better is you love havin’ my mark on you.”
I fought back the desire to touch my skin, knowing, since it happened before, I’d
have to choose my top for that day carefully
.
B
ecause
his mark
was always mild
,
but it was there and he was right.
I loved having Raid’s mark on me.
He was far from done and he also saved the best for last.
“She doesn’t do it for me, Hanna, because I didn’t fall in love with her when I saw
her across a street, hair shining in the sun, laughing. You do it for me because you
were that girl across the street, your hair shining in the sun, laughing, making me
fall in love with you
,
and I didn’t even goddamned fucking
know
you.”
Did he just say that?
“Oh my God,” I whispered.
“Yeah,” he agreed.
He just said that.
“Oh my God,” I repeated.
“Yeah, honey,” he again agreed.
“I
—
” I started
,
but again he spoke over me.
“So thank fuck, my mouth on yours, you explode and let go and latch onto my dick while
I’m drivin’ your car and dig your nails in my back when you come for me, ‘cause, baby,
that means you give it all to me. Not one woman in my life gave it all to me and not
one man can expect that. Hope for it. Yeah. Get it. No. You give it all
,
so that means I’ve got it all.”
I stared at him.
He let me for a while then he went on.
“Now, I can share what came before you
,
and I had fun, Hanna. I make no apologies. But I think it’s best we leave it where
it lies. ‘Cause all you gotta know is
it’s gonna be you
—
and only you
—
until the day I die
,
because l
ife did not lead me down the wrong path when I fell in love with a girl who had
the sun shining in her hair who would eventually not do it for me.
You’re not just enough for me. You’re everything I want. So that works for me.”
When he stopped speaking, unfortunately, I started.
“Her breasts are fake?” I blurted.
“Absolutely,” Raiden replied.
“You’re in love with me?” I kept blurting.
“Absolutely,” Raiden replied.
We stared at each other while my heart raced and I fought panting.
Then, not finished blurting, I shared, “I beat you. I fell in love with you when I
was six and I didn’t know who you were.”
I saw the tension flow out of his body. His neck twisted, head dropping forward, eyes
closing
,
and he stood in silent contemplation for a moment before he lifted his head, looked
at me and said quietly, “Okay, baby, you win.”
“Absolutely,” I replied.
It was then Raiden Ulysses Miller scorched me a second time
,
but I didn’t battle this blaze. There was no pain. But that didn’t mean I didn’t
end up branded.
“I told you I didn’t dream as a kid of bein’ a cop or an astronaut
,
but I gave a lot of thought to the woman I’d want in my bed. I grew older and gave
more thought to that woman
,
but it was also about the woman I wanted in my life. And she was you. Then I met
you. And now, every day I wake up I cannot believe my luck because you’re here.”
Was he for real?
“How can you take a totally insane situation that should
never
happen, was intense and humiliating
,
and turn it into something I never want to forget in my whole life?” I asked.
“Because you love me,” Raiden answered.
“Oh
,
right. That’s how,” I muttered.
His fire burned white-hot.
“Get over here,” he growled.
I got over there.
The instant I did he crushed me in his arms, buried his face in my neck and I went
up in flames.